Wide-ranging films on Jewish experience at Hartford fest

Joe Meyers

Published 2:27 pm, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Eli Furman of Fairfield is the subject of "B-Boy" a documentary about his adventures with the Bridgeport breakdancing troupe - United Outkast - that will be featured in the 17th annual Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Fest, running April 4 to 15.
Photo: Contributed Photo

Eli Furman of Fairfield is the subject of "B-Boy" a documentary...

An 80-year-old Catskills comedienne prepares for a final performance in "Ladies and Gentleman, Biddie Schitzerman," set for screening at the Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Fest on Monday, April 8.
Photo: Contributed Photo

An 80-year-old Catskills comedienne prepares for a final...

The history of the Jewish song "Hava Nagila" is the subject of a film with that title that will be screened on the closing night of the Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Fest, running April 4 to 15.
Photo: Contributed Photo

Last year, the New York Times dubbed it an "international heavyweight."

The secret of the festival's success, director Harriet Dobin believes, is the constant growth of special programming and the amazing diversity and quality of films from around the world that deal with the Jewish experience.

This year 21 films will be screened over 10 days, starting Thursday, April 4.

"There's a lot that's new this year. We've never had a team of breakdancers from Bridgeport perform at our closing night," Dobin said, laughing, of the live entertainment that will accompany a screening of "B-Boy," a documentary about Fairfield's own Eli Furman, who competed in breakdancing competitions during his Bar Mitzvah year.

"We've never had a family singalong. We've never had a transgender Jewish poet professor," Dobin added of other special programming and guests that will accompany the screenings of dramas, comedies and documentaries from eight countries.

"We try to get as many experts as possible without having speaker overload," the director said of the panels and question-and-answer sessions that give added value to the film presentations. "People want to be educated and entertained."

One of the bittersweet offerings of the festival is the Hartford premiere of the new documentary "Koch," about the colorful former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch, who died in February just as the film was receiving its first screenings.

"I saw it last summer and said (to the filmmakers), `We want two screenings and the Hartford premiere.' I personally communicated with Mr. Koch about possibly coming," she said. "It's a wonderful film."

One of the lucky accidents this year is "B-Boy," which the festival screening committee loved before realizing the film's 13-year-old subject is from Fairfield.

"We try very hard to balance the programming," Dobin said of a slate that ranges from the French romantic comedy "The Day I Saw Your Heart," starring Melanie Laurent of "Inglorious Basterds," to a documentary about the last Jewish resort in the Catskills ("Welcome to Kutshers"), to "Hitler's Children," about the families of Nazi war criminals.

Some of the films deal with the Holocaust and anti-Semitism in this country, but Dobin said she doesn't want issue-oriented movies to dominate the festival.

"We can handle controversy in small doses, but you can't do it night after night or fatigue will set in," she said.

Still, the director believes "Hitler's Children" will "blow people away."

"These were bad guys, but the children and grandchildren are innocent victims of their fathers and grandfathers," she said of the German/Israeli co-production about the families of Goering, Hoess, Himmler and other Third Reich leaders.

The festival has become such a big and highly anticipated event -- and booking new films is so complex -- that Dobin has already begun planning for 2014.

"It will be March 20 to 30 and we are already getting submissions for next year," she said.